


FOS: Challenge Level

by oikagirl7



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Michelle Jones, BAMF Peter Parker, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Friends of Spider-Man, Gen, Graphic Description, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, This is really whumpy, Very graphic medical work, and he gets one, michelle jones is basically a superhero, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29792790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oikagirl7/pseuds/oikagirl7
Summary: Being a FOS (Friend Of Spiderman) is hard. Being Spiderman's girlfriend is even harder. But this might be the hardest thing MJ's had to deal with so far. Peter Parker is bleeding out on the floor of her bedroom, and MJ doesn't feel ready to have unlocked this level yet. Damn Ned and his video game metaphors.Rated teen and up for descriptions of injury and mild language. Warning: semi-graphic injury description, battle and medical.I don't own any of the characters or settings you recognize, that all belongs to Marvel, I'm just playing with it. Please don't sue me.
Relationships: Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 64





	1. Objective: Find Spidey

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in a canon-divergent universe after Spiderman FFH (Warning: Some Small-ish Far From Home Spoilers Ahead.) where everything is the same except we're ignoring the mid-credits scene (you know the one) and Tony is still alive. I don't know how that happens (maybe Tony was in a coma during FFH in my universe or something idk) just go with it, the timeline isn't super important to this. 
> 
> Additional note: this isn't in the same universe as Vibrant Vitals because I'm not that put together. But thank you to everyone who has read Vibrant Vitals! Your comments really make my day; I feel all fuzzy inside whenever I see one in my inbox. I hope you all enjoy this one, and I am working on something else for after this, but I am very slow so it may be some time. Please enjoy the fic and thank you all for reading!
> 
> And alas, I still don't own Marvel or these characters. Don't sue me.

MJ was happy to be walking home. She'd stayed at the library with Betty and Cindy until it closed, making up the newest sets of flash cards for AcaDec. They were starting a totally new training set to widen their topics. Right now the team was especially good at a few topics, and only average at the rest. That wasn't good enough for MJ. Despite her reputation for an uncaring attitude, she put a lot of value in preparedness, and put a lot of care into making the team ready for anything.

MJ pondered as she walked home that perhaps her carefully crafted ennui was slipping; her determination to not care or get attached was definitely disintegrating. She had several things she cared deeply about now. She cared about AcaDec, in her own way. She had friends now: Ned, Betty, Cindy. She had a boyfriend now: Peter. She couldn't bring herself to mourn the change. Being unattached sounded all well and good until she started to form attachments. She was happier now, or at least she thought she was. Admittedly, her life was more complicated too. Probably more complicated than the lives of most people who had friends and a relationship. 

"View live footage from his most recent battle! Spiderman defends the city against supervillain 'Slicer'!" says a news anchor as she passes a store with a TV monitor set up in its window. 

Yep, that why her life was complicated. She fell in love with the boy who flings himself off of buildings. Wait, did she say love? She'd file that away for later. She smiled. Yes, she was definitely happier now. Dating Spiderman was complicated, but dating Peter was worth it. When she first started dating Peter, right after Europe, Ned had given her a full rundown of everything expected of her as an FOS (Friend Of Spiderman). He wrote it in a list in invisible ink. Nerd. 

  
—We now announce a break in your usual program—  
FOS GUIDELINES BY NED, annotated by MJ.

FOS pillars of success  
1\. Keep the secret. Speak to no one. Do not divulge any sensitive information.   
- _These all mean the same thing Ned_.-

2\. Support the man behind the mask. Never make Peter choose between helping someone as Spiderman and your expectations. (Also don't show this list to Peter.)  
- _Hiding things from Spiderman? That seems suspicious Ned. Where does that fall on this list?_ -

3\. Be prepared to help in emergency situations. (Ex. I keep a FOS kit at my house with a first aid kit, some of Peter's clothes, and some web fluid he gave me. I will get you one soon.)  
- _You're such a nerd._  
 _...When do I get it? Do I get to pick what goes in?_ -

4\. Be prepared to be targeted as an FOS. This is a dangerous business, anonymous, unforgiving! You need to be ready to get involved with dangerous things, or distance yourself from the FOS program now.   
- _Anonymous and unforgiving? Sounding a bit dramatic. Also, are we a program? There's two of us. I literally watched you write this list during our study session yesterday._ -

5\. Know when to call an SFOS (Super Friend Of Spiderman). We all need to accept our limitations on how we can help Peter. You may need backup. See emergency numbers on the back of this sheet.   
- _Where'd you get Tony Stark's number? Did Peter give it to you or is this another thing we're hiding from Spiderman?_ -  
Look MJ, It was legitimately sourced! Stop cluttering the list!   
- _Boh_.- 

—We now return to your usual programming—

She hadn't stopped at the first TV, they were always reporting something about her boyfriend, and the new 'close up' live footage was usually shaky and unclear anyway. But when she passed another store further down the block with people crowded around the television, she halted. 

"Reports from the scene say Slicer is down. Emergency services are entering the area."

She was about to keep walking when the next sentence kept her rooted to the spot, she realized this must be why everyone was watching. "Spiderman has not been caught on camera since he was severely injured in the battle several minutes ago. Eyewitness reports say he looked battered after taking down Slicer, and one person says he was "practically dragging himself off the scene." Reporters entering the area have found evidence that the hero was bleeding heavily. Unfortunately no other information has been found. For now we only have questions. Where is the masked hero now? Will he recover?"

At the end of the news anchor's report, MJ snapped out of her frozen state. She needed to get home and call Peter. She called Ned while she's still walking, only a block from home now. 

"Have you heard from Peter?" She opened, without a hello. 

"No, why? Is something wrong?"

"Turn on the news." There's some rustling sounds and then a heavy breath through the phone.

"Oh god. I'll try and get ahold of him. I'll head to his apartment as soon as we hang up in case he needs help. May should be at work right now. Do you know how bad he's injured?"

"No, I wasn't watching the news until the fight was over. I'll try and call Peter as soon as I get in my apartment, I'm walking in the building now."

"Okay."

"I'll call you back if I can't get Peter. Call me when you find out if he's at home." She hung up. She ignored the elevator and opted to run up four flights of stairs just to be marginally faster. She didn't want to be in public while discussing Peter's injuries. Maybe she was being paranoid, but it was a lot harder to sound not panicked and not mention anything by name talking directly to an injured Peter than it was talking to Ned. Panting, she unlocked her apartment door, threw her backpack into the couch, and headed directly to her room, already clicking on Peter's contact. She dropped the phone. The world stopped moving.


	2. Checkpoint: Injured Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the one that gets the most whumpy. Graphic medical treatment ahead, be careful!

She'd found Peter.

Peter's body was laying limp right below her window, on her rug. He was unconscious. He had five wounds through his torso, all bleeding heavily, his Spiderman suit ripped to shreds.

Peter was bleeding out.

Peter was here.

Peter was dying?

She couldn't seem to think. MJ took a breath, trying to get her lungs working. She took another one. Her brain whirred to a start like a flywheel going from nothing to full speed. She jerked forward, starting to move before she fully comprehended her own thoughts. She pulled her FOS kit from under her bed and set it near Peter. She straightened out Peter's body and checked him for other wounds. The five impalements were definitely the worst, but she was pretty sure his left leg was broken too. She pulled scissors and copious amounts of gauze from the FOS kit and began to cut away Peter's suit, apologizing about wrecking it under her breath. What a stupid worry, she chastised herself mentally; it was already ruined anyway. She pulled his mask off too, she could watch him for signs of consciousness better that way. She put gauze over the wounds. The ragged punctures were kind of close together, so she tried to keep them all covered, and pressed hard.

She thought about two months ago when she took a wilderness first-aid training with Ned.

—Flashback—

"You know," she told him, "having the kits is all well and good, but we should probably know more about what to do with them."

"Like read some first-aid books?"

"I was thinking more like this," she said, handing him the flyer for a training, "it's meant to teach you for when there might not be medical professionals around. I've taken it before because my mom thought I should before I went to protests, but my certificate is expired and I could use a brush up. You should know how to handle this stuff too. We're more likely to need it than most."

"That's a great idea!" Ned said enthusiastically. MJ rolled her eyes. "I'll see you there! Friday," he said, checking the flyer, "at six. Good. Peter will be on patrol, so it won't be as weird that we're hanging out without him."

"This isn't really hanging out. It's supposed to be training, not for fun."

"It's like an FOS tutorial level, it can be training and fun!"

"Tutorial level?"

"Yeah, like in a video game when you are taught all the controls and moves and stuff! It's like that But for helping Peter."

"Huh. Okay, nerd."

—End flashback—

MJ cataloged the things she should be doing, picturing Ned laughing, failing at pretending to be a victim on the ground of the training center. Pressure on wounds. Keep adding gauze. Watch his breathing. Call for help. Call for help! Just as the thought ran through her head, her phone rang. She moved one hand off Peter's wound to pick up the phone, fingers slippery with blood. Peter's blood. She tried to control the sick feeling in her stomach. She planned to ignore the call and just dial Stark or 911 or something, but the person calling was Ned. She hit answer and put it on speaker, moving her hands back to the wound, letting the phone sit on the floor.

Ned's panicked voice filled the room. "He's not here. I can't get ahold of him. I can't even track his suit, it must've gotten damag-"

"He's here!" MJ shouted into the phone, interrupting Ned. "Ned, he's here. He showed up at my house. He's-" she gasped back a sob, "he's unconscious. He's bleeding out. I'm putting pressure on it. Call Stark. Give him my address, and then call me back. And-" she took a deep breath, "and get over here. He needs help."

Ned's was quiet through her talking and then responded "on it," and hung up so quickly, MJ felt a little bereft without him.

She watched Peter's breathing. It was shallow and labored. She thought she'd felt broken ribs, and putting pressure on the wounds probably didn't help the bones, but she couldn't let him bleed out either.

She tried not to let her mind wander. She tried to only be sure Peter would be okay. But what if? What if he wasn't? What if she never got to roll her eyes at his lame jokes again? What if they could never make fun of Ned and Betty being clingy together again? What if they never got to be clingy? She could imagine his face, awake and smiling, him holding her hand, kissing her. She'd seen him at school yesterday, he was under her hands now, but she missed him.

"Please be okay Peter. I told you not to do anything stupid and look what you did!" She let out a breath, almost laugh like, but too sad to sound humorous. "Please be okay."

Her phone rang. She hit answer and speaker without checking who it was. She knew it'd be Ned calling back.

"Ned!"

"Not quite." A tight voice said back. It was Tony Stark. Honestly she couldn't bring herself to care who it was so long as they brought help for Peter. "What can you tell me about Peter's condition? Give me all the details. I'm on my way, and there's a private ambulance following that will take him to the tower."

MJ needed to be calm for this. She was good in a crisis, but today she'd been allowing her panic to affect her more than she should've. She took the bricks from where she'd torn down years of walls created to stop attachments and built a wall around her panic. She took all the control that she'd used to stay alone and she used it to separate her worry from her logic, she used it so they could stay together. So she and Peter could stay together. She was pleased with how steady her voice came out when she spoke.

"He has five severe wounds in his torso. All five some kind of stab or impalement, and all five go through and through. I think he was hit from the back, the front wounds look like exit wounds. I'm keeping pressure on them. His left leg is badly broken, but I haven't set it because I've been prioritizing stopping the bleeding. I believe he may have one or several broken ribs as well. His pulse is steady, but weaker than I'd like, and he's been breathing shallowly since I found him, which is part the reason for my suspicion that there's broken ribs."

"How long have you been there?" Came the voice through the phone. "Has his enhanced healing closed the wounds at all?"

"I'm not sure how long it's been. Definitely longer than ten minutes but probably not more than forty? I don't really know." She looked under her hands. The pressure had felt a bit lighter in the last few minutes, since Stark called. She could see Peter's skin, healing together under her eyes. The bleeding was almost stopped. "His wounds are almost closed, and the bleeding has slowed down. That's a new development though, I hadn't noticed any significant change until after you called."

"Good. That's good. The timing isn't unusual, his healing works in odd ways. How's the leg? Is it fusing wrong? I'm only six minutes out."

MJ had already started checking the leg as soon as the chest wounds had stopped being critical. It wasn't fused yet, but she could feel it begin to stiffen under her hand in a way that was far from humanly possible. She spoke loudly into the phone.

"The leg hasn't fused yet, but it's starting to. It's speeding up. I'm going to set it now. Should I?" Despite asking his advice, she already had the SAM splint from her FOS kit in her hand, and was reviewing what she knew about setting bones. The first aid training they took mostly said just keep it still and wait for a doctor, possibly even for days, but Peter was different. She'd done some extra research because he'd talked about setting his own broken bones before. She knew how. She was prepared to do it.

"If you don't feel ready to do that you can wait until I get there." Stark said, and she seriously considered it, but feeling Peter's leg, and watching how fast his wounds closed once his healing kicked in, she thought better of it.

"I don't think we can wait that long or we'll have to rebreak it," she said tersely, and put her hands on Peter's leg. Her brain skimmed through everything she'd read on closed reductions and she took another deep breath. She pulled and pushed the bones, pulling the lower break out from Peter's body to allow the bones to line up without as much friction. She felt like her hands were trying to be everywhere. Stark was saying something in the background but she was too focused to listen now. She felt the leg all over, feeling for anything out of place. Satisfied that the bones were lined up, she attached the SAM splint to his leg. She was severely glad that Peter was unconscious for this. Even with her control gripped in both hands, it was hard not to imagine how painful that would've been if he'd been awake.

"Done," MJ reported to the phone, cutting off whatever Stark had started saying when she wasn't listening.

"How is he?"

"I think the leg is set properly, although honestly I haven't done this before. The wounds are fully closed. I don't want to wrap the ribs myself, because I don't want to jostle the chest wounds. They probably haven't healed internally."

"Okay, just keep track of his vitals. I can see the building. There in ten seconds."

MJ checked Peter's pulse and counted it for ten seconds. She had just started to count his breaths when Tony Stark walked into her room.

"That was 11 seconds," was all she could think to say. Stark looked a bit thrown off by that, which brought words back to MJ's brain somehow. "His pulse is still steady, and seems to be getting stronger again," she pointed at Peter as if there was someone else he might think she'd be talking about.

"Okay," he ran a hand through his hair. "Okay. Good. The ambulance is here," he said, checking a message on his watch. "We can move him."

Stark set down a smooth metal disk right next to Peter and poked a button in its center. Nanobots flowed over and around Peter, encasing him in something that looked like a cross between a stretcher and a pod. "Can you open your window?" He asked, not looking at her as he tapped some controls on his phone.

MJ didn't respond, just quickly stepped toward the window Peter must've come in. The bloody handprints on the sill made her feel dizzy, weirdly more than setting Peter's bones did. She opened the latch, pushed the window up, and then stepped out of the way, thinking it was insane that Peter managed to close the window before he passed out. She watched as the pod-stretcher shimmered and then seemed to almost disappear. Retro-reflective panels, she realized, must cover the outside. She'd discussed the non-military merits of those panels with Peter on the bus, just barely a week ago. She thought they were too secretive, hard to put to use in a way that wasn't a combat, reconnaissance, or under the table type thing. She believed there should be more transparency in their world's systems. Now she found herself changing her mind (about the panels not the world systems). She'd been wondering how they would transport the unconscious Peter without drawing suspicion ever since Mr. Stark mentioned the ambulance. Maybe some things were hidden for a reason. The pod-stretcher floated out her window into the alleyway and down into a hole just the right size for it in the top of an unmarked ambulance. If she hadn't known the pod-stretcher was there, she wouldn't have seen it. It was barely a shimmer on the alley wall.

Mr. Stark had joined her at the window, and he monitored the pod-stretched until the top of the ambulance closed like a sliding door. She couldn't see the seams once the door was set into place. The ambulance pulled away, and Mr. Stark turned to her.

"Bruce has him now. He'll be okay. I'm sending a car to pick you up and take you to the tower. It should be here soon. I'm going now, I want to be there before the ambulance." He was already walking out the door of her room and almost out of the apartment. Just as he opened the front door, Ned came racing up the stairs.

"I came as fast I could!" He was saying as he careened into the open door, "how is-" he cut himself off as he almost ran into Mr. Stark. He just stared at him for a second, and then his face crumpled in a strange way. "Is Peter okay? Thank god you made here."

"He'll be okay, kid. He's a fast healer. See you at the tower in a bit." And then he sped out the door. Crossing the threshold he shouted back, "oh and Michelle, I'll buy you a new rug! No need to risk the suspicion of a parental figure." The door slammed shut behind him.


	3. Extra Unlocked: Boss Battle Cutscene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is also kinda graphic, more violence than injury though. I hope you are enjoying! P.S. I promise we’ll put Peter back together.

"The tower?" Ned wondered into the silence.

MJ had been planning to just stand there and stare at a wall until whatever car Mr. Stark sent arrived, but the arrival of Ned and the mention of the rug reminded her of the mess in her room and the fact that her mother didn't know she was dating a superhero. She felt like she was shaking all over. She didn't even register Ned's question.

"Ned," her voice came out flat and monotone. "Can you help me to clean up my room? I'm sorry to ask, since I know cleaning up blood isn't the nicest thing ever," she continued, uncharacteristically soft and apologetic even through the monotone, "but I can't- don't want to do it alone." 

The two of them headed into her room. They rolled up her rug and tossed it out the window, aiming for the dumpster but missing entirely. They wiped the blood off the window, her phone, the wood floor that the carpet hadn't protected, the door handles, the FOS kit, and anything else that even looked nearby to where there was blood. During this, very few words were exchanged. MJ told Ned about the car coming and what she knew of Peter's injuries, and then they continued in contemplative silence. MJ changed clothes and put the ones she'd been wearing, along with all the other things that were ruined or disposable, in a big trash bag. Only minutes later, MJ got a text that just said 'here'. It was from an unknown number. She figured it was the car. She and Ned trooped down the stairs, after locking the apartment, and elected to exit the back way into the alley. They threw the trash bag away, and heaved the rug currently laying sadly on the alley pavement into the dumpster properly.

When they walked around front they found a black car waiting for them with the passenger window rolled down. There was a familiar face inside.

"Happy!" Ned greeted as he slid into the car ahead of MJ. They both knew Happy pretty well after Europe, and especially since he started dating May. 

"What no mace?" Happy asked MJ as she shut the door. 

"Not today. Different kind of emergency. But you never know, I might need it yet." She tried to sound sarcastic, but her voice sounded forced and worried even to her own ears. Happy's face dropped into a serious expression. 

"He's doing alright. He hasn't woken up yet, so far as I've heard, probably because he lost so much blood at the scene. But Bruce and Cho say he'll make a full and speedy recovery like always, as soon as the blood deficit is balanced out. They have his blood stocked for cases like this, since he doesn't match anyone." 

MJ let her jaw relax. She hadn't realized she'd been clenching it. Ned spoke up, so quietly she almost didn't hear him. 

"Do we know what happened?"

Happy puffed out a breath, now pulling into the street. "Yeah. There's footage of everything. It-" he pauses, trying to find a less horrible way to say it, "it was bad. But the kid did amazing. He," Happy seemed to be struggling a little, and MJ wondered how close he and Peter had gotten recently. "He always does," Happy finished. 

"Can we see?" MJ asked. It seemed strange, because she already knew it would be awful, but she needed to know what happened. She needed to know. Ned's expression made MJ think he was on the same train of thought. Happy nodded solemnly, his eyes looked sad but understanding in the rear-view mirror. 

"Just ask Friday. She can pull up the best footage here in the car."

MJ and Ned shared a look of agreement, and then, tentatively, Ned addressed the AI. 

"Friday?" 

"How can I help you Mr. Leeds?"

"Just Ned is fine. Can we see the news footage from Spiderman's battle with Slicer today?"

"Pulling up footage..."

As Friday spoke, videos from several camera views sprung up on a panel that had descended from the ceiling. They picked up mid fight, presumably from whenever the news vans showed up. On screen, Peter was really holding his own, jumping, swinging, and dodging attacks with precision. The self, though accurately, named Slicer, was surrounded by robotic, bladed armed contraptions. They certainly sliced. The contraptions moved like oversized and less-legged centipedes, the bladed arms alternating between lashing out and supporting the center frame. There were a lot of the spiky centipede things between Peter and Slicer. 

"Soon everyone shall know the villain Slicer, as I engrave my name into the Statue of Liberty!" Slicer exclaimed, pushing buttons on the control panel he had in the middle of a city square. "And here! The perfect vantage point!" He pointed at Peter and let out a cackle as one of the arms almost knocked Peter down a side street. 

"Seriously? All this tech and you go for massive vandalism?" Peter scoffed loudly as he tried to swing a new angle above the slicer-bots. "Just use spray paint dude! I probably wouldn't even stop you! Probably."

"This is more than vandalism! This is a mark of Slicer's great intellect and his prowess over "the saviors of New York City." He spat the last words and pointed to Peter again. He sounded like he was quoting something.

"Speaking in third person now are we? Well, Spiderman thinks you've reached new levels of ridiculously dramatic!" Peter yelled, binding 3 bladed arms together with webs.

"I'll show you dramatic!" Slicer roared, pulling a brightly colored lever on his weird control panel. The slicer-bots began to squish together, rearing and growing, until many smaller bots became slightly less many that were bigger and taller. Each arm became a five spiked prong, the lower arm components twisting together to create massive sharp tentacle like things. 

Slicer began to work things on his control panel in earnest now, clearly still setting everything up. He fumbled wires, pressed buttons, pulled hatches. How long would it take? How long did Peter have to reach the villain before he was done? MJ wondered. Peter was doing admirably fighting the steroid level slicer-bots. He'd managed to web the inner workings of one, causing the motors of the multiple conjoined bots to pull in different directions and tear other apart. He was swinging, dodging, jumping, running under, around, on, and through all the bots at lightning speed. He seemed to twist and turn away from things before he could even see them. Thank you, Peter-tingle! 

MJ was always confusingly torn while watching Peter fight. He was so brave, and so good, and she was so proud of him. Don't get so mushy! She scolded herself in her head. But at the same time, everything was so close. He was so close to being hit so many times. 

Sometimes it shocked her that this was her real life. That she really knew Peter. That his wonderful self was a real person. But other times- other times watching him lit a fire inside of her. Her eyes blazed with pride and daring, and she knew that she was prepared to do anything to help. She'd always wanted to make the world better. She'd gone to her first protest at age 12. She had her own ways of wanting to help people, regardless of the danger to herself. She and Peter were well matched that way (or badly in some views, since one of them probably should've been less reckless). But watching Peter fight killed the voice of the skeptic in her. The fire to help, the one she saw in Peter, the one he fed inside her, consumed the voice that said 'it won't do anything, it won't make a difference'. As she watched Peter do every stupid, dangerous move, the voice disappeared entirely.

After she pulled herself out of her thoughts, MJ's gaze started to actively scan the footage again. Peter had taken down about one third of the bots now, and was approaching Slicer. He managed to throw a web into the hatch Slicer was wiring, and when the villain looked up, Peter hit him in the eye with another web.

"Argh!" Slicer hissed, hands flying to his face. His other eye was tearing up, his gaze wildly rolling. Then, the visible eye stopped on something and Slicer gave a pained grin. "Can't save everyone, Spiderman," he growled menacingly. 

Peter's gaze whipped around to whatever Slicer had just seen that he had not. There, behind a raised bed full of trees, hid a father and twin toddler girls. Who knew how long they'd been there, hiding from the fight? But when Slicer hit his button, the bots began to advance on the civilians. 

"NO!" Peter shouted, shooting webs and flinging himself towards that side of the square wildly. Just as the first bot reached the family, Peter shot webs at them and swung them onto the roof of a long building they could run far enough away on. But, still in the swing back from his throw, he couldn't stop any attacks. He couldn't stop it. The closest bot lashed out fast, and stabbed a five pronged tentacle arm right through Peter's back, spikes protruding from his chest and abdomen. Peter screamed. 

MJ's heart felt like it was on a drop tower at an amusement park. She glanced over at Ned, his eyes fixed to the screen, lips slightly parted, and she grabbed his wrist. 

"He's okay. We know he's okay. We know he's okay," she murmured over and over, almost more to herself than Ned. She felt uncharacteristically huggy- like she just needed to be held. Maybe she just needed to be held by Peter. 

Back on the screen, the bot slammed Peter into the ground several times, while still impaling him on the end of its arm. It was like a toddler having a tantrum with a forkful of vegetables. This must be where he got the broken leg and ribs, MJ figured, somewhat dazedly. The bot flung Peter off of its arm and skittered away. Peter's body heaved, almost sitting up, almost, almost -and the camera cut out. 

"What?" MJ exclaimed, and then suddenly remembered the news on her walk home saying there was a loss of footage after Peter was injured. 

"Shit." Ned mumbled. MJ turned surprised eyes on him. He didn't cuss often. 

"Yeah that about sums it up, kid." Happy threw back to them. MJ had kinda forgotten he was there. "We're only a few minutes from the tower now."

On screen, the news reports had moved into photos and videos of the aftermath. They didn't have any proof of how Peter defeated the guy, especially while so injured, but large portions of the square were soaked in blood, presumably Peter's since no other injuries had been reported. 

"God you weren't kidding about the blood deficit." MJ said, her tone not fully conveying the horror she felt at the pictures in front of her. This had been a trying day. 

"No. It was bad, but he really will be alright. It shouldn't even be three full days until he's up and about again."

"Yeah. Probably to go rush off and get more injuries," MJ commented, somewhat morosely.

Happy chuckled. "Kid can't seem to stay out of trouble. But, then again," Happy took one hand off the wheel to run the back of his neck, "trouble would be a lot worse if he didn't run into it."

"Yeah. He does great stuff," Ned said vaguely, finally seeming to have come out of his dazed state after the footage. 

"Alright, here we are," Happy said, pulling into the tower garage. "Peter will probably wake up soon, but we can get to him first. Here's your visitor badges," he handed them each a lanyard, "but you shouldn't really need them if you stick with me. Let's go."


	4. Achievement: Challenge Level Completed

MJ, Happy, and Ned walked into the building so fast that their 'walk' was almost a jog. MJ was so close on Happy's heels that she had to pay extra attention to make sure she didn't step on him. Despite his shorter legs, Ned was almost as close behind her. They didn't go through the lobby, but instead took the route that MJ assumed was reserved for those who lived at the tower. It took them away from public spaces to a separate elevator. Inside, the compartment was absolutely quiet. MJ could even hear the gears of the elevator. The specially made, extra quiet, Stark Industries gears. She couldn't seem to get out of her own head. She'd visited an injured Peter multiple times in the past, but this time was different. She couldn't seem to turn off the adrenaline response inside her. She was ready to act, or fight, or run, but she didn't need to do any of those now. The other option her body was currently offering her was to fall on the floor and curl up in a ball to process, but that wasn't something she could do right now either, so she tried to just turn her brain off and think about nothing.

Outside distractors came to her rescue. The elevator doors opened onto the medbay floor, and they walked to one of the doors. None of them were labeled, but Happy seemed to know where to go. The instant they opened the door, which led to a smaller hallway, May came flying out of a chair towards them.

"MJ! Ned! I'm so glad you're here. I only just got here myself. They told me! Oh-" she looked on the edge of tears, "they told me that you did all the triage, and you might've saved his life!" She addressed to MJ. "And that you coordinated all the contacts to get more help!" She said, turning toward Ned. "Thank you. I'm so proud of you both. Peter is lucky to have friends like you looking out for him. Thank you for taking care of him." She pulled them each into a quick hug.

MJ didn't know what to say. Everything felt unreal. She stared at May for what felt like twenty seconds, but was probably more like two, and then words came tumbling out of her mouth, her slowly processing brain falling back on what she was used to- sarcasm.

"So true. What on earth would he do without us?" MJ's sarcastic voice was less assured than normal, but it was pretty convincing. May cracked a small smile and went to go back to where she'd been sitting in the section of hallway ahead of them, but MJ caught her wrist. She wasn't used to this, speaking so unguardedly, but she wanted to say more. She forced her brain to use more effort and push outside the familiar. "Honestly, we're lucky to know him. We're so proud." She didn't know where all this was coming from today, but she was glad she'd said something. The look on May's face was worth every word.

They walked over to the line of chairs set up in the hallway. Ned was talking to May about when she'd heard the news, and had she seen what happened, and May was reaching down and interlocking her fingers with Happy's. They sat down to wait, MJ's full focus on the window across the hall that peered into Peter's room. She stared through the window, unable to see much except the back of some medical monitor, but she focused on it as though she could absorb some information through osmosis. She wanted to know how Peter was. Not just that he wasn't critical anymore, but every detail. She liked details. Focusing on details allowed for precision, and kept things from getting overwhelming. Her heart rate was finally slowing down. She tried to go over decathlon facts in her head. She undid her loose ponytail and retied it absentmindedly. Time wasn't behaving normally today. MJ felt like she stared through the window for an eternity, but they couldn't have been waiting more than ten minutes when Dr. Cho emerged from the room.

"He's stirring, should wake up any minute," she said with a small reassuring smile. "You can go in now. We just wanted to finish all our scans before allowing visitors. Everything looks to be healing correctly."

As they began to file into the room, Mr. Stark came barreling into the hallway behind them, a tiny screwdriver still clutched in one hand. Looking at the mask in his other hand, MJ realized he must have been repairing the damage to Peter's suit.

"I got an alert, is he waking up? What's happening?"

"You're just in time," Dr. Cho soothed. "He just started stirring."

The group, five of them now, filed into the room. It would have been a lot of people for a normal hospital room, but this was Stark Tower. The room was very large with lots of natural lighting available, although currently heavy blinds were drawn over the windows. Peter was here enough for the room to be adjusted to accommodate his heightened senses- they were especially sensitive when he was injured. Peter himself was laying in the hospital bed, tucked into bright white sheets. Several monitors surrounded him, and a bag of blood was hooked up on one side of the bed. He looked surprisingly well for someone who'd lost like 30% of his blood less than two hours ago. His eyelids were moving, and his hands were twitching somewhat.

Ned and MJ took the two chairs on the far side of the bed, while May, Happy, and Tony sat in the ones closer to the door. They all spoke in quiet voices and although MJ couldn't really know for everyone, she thought they were all resisting the urge to scoot as close to Peter as possible, just like she was. If that was true, they soon all gave up on it. As Peter's eyes flickered open and he looked around confusedly for a second, body tensing, everyone was up and standing at his bedside. Peter's eyes seemed to catch sight of something, it was hard to tell what it was that made him realize where he'd woken up, but his body relaxed into the pillows and he let out a breath. No one seemed to want to be the first one to break the silence. Peter looked around at them all and smiled a tired grin.

"Um, hi," he said, in a tone that seemed to ask why they were all just staring at him. His voice was rough and strained, but had a hint of happiness too, like he was glad they were there. The silence seemed to break like a landslide breaks through a dam, everything coming at once. MJ could barely keep track of who was talking, although they did all keep their voices lowered.

"Peter! I'm so glad you're okay! You scared the life out of me!" That was May.

"Dude! I saw the fight! That was insane! Those arm things were crazy!" Ned.

"Kid, you could've called for help! God, it's like you have no self preservation instincts." Tony.

"You did so well!" Ned. No, wait, that was May.

"You did good, Pete." Happy.

"We're so proud!" That was May for sure. Or was it Tony?

"We've got to find a way to make your suit more protective without losing flexibility."

"How're you feeling?"

"Someone get Dr. Cho!"

"Do you want to sit up more?"

"Tell us about the fight!"

MJ gave up on trying to listen to all the voices and just watched Peter from behind Ned's shoulder. Ned, Tony, and May kept talking over each other, but Happy left to get Dr. Cho. MJ wasn't taking in anything anyone was saying anymore, but when she heard Peter's voice she refocused.

"The civilians? Are they alright? Did Slicer wake up before the authorities got him?" Peter's face was tinged with worry, and even a little guilt. Idiot. MJ thought. She knew he'd been worrying about leaving the scene before everything was checked out, but he would've died.

"Everyone was fine," Tony responded softly. "Everyone except you anyway. This one might go on the top five worst Peter injuries list!" Peter raised his eyebrows questioningly, which hurried Tony along. "Okay, don't worry, Slicer," Tony said, putting finger quotes around the name, "is now on his way to prison. His real name was Anthony Daniels."

"Good. Thank you." Said Peter gratefully. Dr. Cho returned with Happy, and began to ask Peter a few questions, check his pupils, and write down some info from the monitors. Ned, Tony, and May still kept up a little conversation as that happened, but it was much calmer. MJ was still silent.

"You should be able to leave the medbay tomorrow morning Peter!" Dr. Cho was saying, as she finished writing the last set of scans down on her clipboard. "You were pretty lucky this time. It might have been way worse if the triage hadn't been so well done." She turned her eyes to MJ. "This is some girl you've got here. You did great Michelle. I'm impressed. If you ever want to talk about becoming a medical professional of any kind, please come talk to me, I'd be glad to help." She nodded and smiled once more at Peter. "I'll be back to check in again later."

Peter's eyes lingered on MJ, and his face shifted through expressions quickly. It started with confusion. Then it was realization, as though he'd just remembered falling through her window, which was quickly followed by worry. Then it was pride, then something like guilt, and maybe embarrassment. MJ prided herself on her observational skills, and Peter's was her favorite face to read. She felt like she wanted to know more of what was inside his head than she could see on his adorable face. She wanted to ask about everything he was thinking, but she still hadn't asked a single question. The back of her brain was still whirring with thought, stuck on the 99% loading screen.

She and Peter must've been staring at each other for longer than she realized because she was torn away from his eyes by May speaking.

"We'll give you two a minute," she said casually, herding Ned, Tony, and Happy out the door like so many cats. MJ nodded mutely and gave May a slight smile. She sat down on the end of Peter's bed and was working on opening her mouth to say something, when Peter beat her to it.

"Thank you. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. No warning just," he sighed, waving a vague hand gesture at his injuries and then wincing, "all of that."

"It's alright. Today was terrifying, but it's alright. Just-"

"Don't do it again," he interrupted, chuckling slightly.

"No." MJ corrected, her brain finally clicking to 100%, "I want you to always do it."

"Get injured?" Peter asked, brow furrowing.

"No! God, no." She said, rubbing one eye haphazardly and the looking up to meet his gaze, expression serious. "Always come to me, if you need to. You will get injured. It's what happens, it's impossible to avoid when doing what you do, Peter. I can't ask you to stop that. But God dammit if you can help everyone than I can at least help you." She said it with such vehemence that Peter looked a touch surprised. He blinked at her, and MJ took two long breaths before more words came out. "If your suit can't contact anyone, or you're just closer to me, or you just don't want to contact Tony, or any other reason at all, just come to me. Promise not to hide from me, and I can always help you. And I will always help, Peter. I'll learn more, anything, to help you help the world. Anything just to help you." She was on a roll now, and the words just kept coming, faster than she could totally control. "I want to help deal with that." She mimicked his vague hand gesture. "Warning or not! Just promise me you won't hide it." She'd stood again and was pacing back and forth at the end of his bed. "I'm so proud of you, but it's scary. You almost died today. The world needs Spiderman, but I need you. And if that means facing severe puncture wounds every other week, I'd do it, because I love you and I can't stand thinking you're too damn stubborn to ask for help!" She finished with a note of frustration, but Peter was smiling at her.

"Okay." He said, still smiling.

"Okay?"

"Okay. I promise." His eyes were soft, and they looked bright and happy at the same time. MJ relaxed into a lazier posture. She hadn't realized she was holding her spine stiff. She smiled back at him.

"You better mean it, because you aren't getting out of this, Nerd," she threw back to him, going to open the door and let the others back in.

"I mean it. And MJ?" Peter said, stopping her before she touched the knob. She turned back around to look at his face again. The soft smile had turned into a full on grin. "I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was suppose to be a one shot, but I guess it ran away with me. *cue that scene from Sherlock where he goes "that just sort of...happened."*
> 
> I realize Peter spent a lot of this fic unconscious, and I apologize. There will be more awake Peter in future stories, but I really loved writing from MJ's perspective on this one. Also I'm a sucker for some good whump so... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Thanks for reading, kudos-ing, and commenting!  
> I still don't own Marvel.


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